Berkshire was eager to take the field against a talented and deep Class A squad from Loomis in hopes of being able to knock off a giant to make up for our two Class C losses. Loomis came at us hard from the very first whistle and within the first 30 seconds had pressured the ball into the circle. We found ourselves on our heels early and down 1-0 only nine minutes into the game. The score would hold throughout the rest of the first half and even halfway through the second. We entered halftime confident that if we simply changed our positioning on the field and our support of one another, we could truly compete with a strong and quick Loomis team.

At the beginning the second half, the Bears fought for some offensive opportunities, moved the ball well, and saw beautiful connections between Ronnie Lortie '14, Kira von Steinbergs '13, Chase Gerber '13 and Sophie Perekslis '14. Sandra Stephan '15 and Olivia Good '15 were once again outstanding at midfield and were responsible for setting up great passing plays down the right side of the field. Berkshire earned a few penalty corners in the second half and nearly connected to tie up the game. Our first shot on net by Chase Gerber found the Loomis goaltender on her heels, she stepped on the ball, and before Chase could hammer home the rebound, the Loomis goaltender cleared the ball away to the side. We had a great scoring opportunity at the top of the circle where Annie Fraiman '13 was in perfect position to quickly sweep in the ball. However, luck was not on her side and she struggled to connect on the pass.

Maddie Bricken '13 played her best game of the season where she worked tirelessly and was fiesty as she stripped the ball from the Loomis D several times to create an offensive threat. The defensive crew of Maureen McCarthy '14, Alli Sugar '16, Allegra Horstmann '14 and Olivia Mason '13 were nearly impenetrable as they stopped up the Loomis offense. Taylor Sorenson turned away 14 shots in the game. Liza Jane Branch '15 was a fantastic sub as she supplied constant pressure when she took the field. We are proud of the way we played, though disappointed in the loss. Loomis' second goal came after some sustained pressure from our offense. They scored with nearly 17 minutes to play in the second half which deflated us a bit. Of note though, after Loomis scored their third goal with 11:52 to play in the game, we came out and played our best field hockey of the game, and supplied some of our best offensive threats in hopes to put a tally on the scoreboard. Good effort by the Bears. We look to play an even better match against Class A squad, Westminster on our home turf, Saturday, November 3 at 3:00. Please come out and support!

Berkshire School is a co-ed, New England college preparatory boarding and day school offering a rigorous academic course of study. Our campus, located in Massachusetts, has state-of-the-art academic, artistic and athletic facilities on a stunning 400-acre campus in the Berkshires.